Want People To Read Your Sales Page? Make It Scannable

There are two types of sales page readers: those who faithfully read every word, and those who skim until they get to the end.

Since you want to sell to both of these groups, you have to know exactly how to capture and hold the attention of each — and doing so in the same sales page is no small feat.

The good news is, you can use the same writing strategy to get each group to engage with what you’re reading … and ultimately to buy what you’re selling.

One very simple way you can increase the “scannability” of your sales page is by making effective use of subheads.

Subheads are a sales page’s best friend

If you blog at all, you know the power that a good set of subheads commands over your readers. You take special care to make them stand out, capture attention and intrigue your readers — and most important, to give those people who give your post a quick “once over” a reason to slow down and read every word you’ve written.

Sales pages are no different. Good subheads allow your readers to stay grounded in the context of what they’re reading, while building a sense of anticipation of what’s to come.

So let’s talk about a few subhead strategies you can use to make readers sit up and take notice.

How to strengthen your sales copy with promises

We’ve talked before at Copyblogger about how a good headline delivers a promise to the reader that makes them want to read further into your sales page.

But if you don’t deliver on that promise quickly, readers can lose interest and either scroll down to the end or give up on your copy entirely.

This is why you want to set up each subheader to include a smaller promise — a taste of what’s to come in the next few paragraphs, if only they will continue reading.

For each section of your copy, ask yourself:

What result will my reader be closer to after reading the text in this section

When you find the answer, build that into the subheader text. (If you can’t come up with something, that’s a sign you need to improve that section.)

Want an example? Look at the subheader above. I just did it.

Why benefit-based subheaders get your readers to stick

Naturally, readers want to know what’s in it for them. Here’s where you tell them how the promise you’ve made can make their business (or their life) better.

To figure out the positive changes that will happen after they take you up on your offer, look at the promise and ask yourself:

How will things be different for my readers after they take in this information

This works so well because it makes the reader hungry for a specific outcome. Where a promise simply hints at a basic result, (“You will be more successful”) the benefits speak to the experience that people will have after they get that result (“You will double your current income in two weeks”).

Tapping into the desire for a specific experience does two things:

First, it forces you to tighten up your copy so that it delivers on the promise.

And second, it triggers your readers’ motivation to read every word of it.

After all, that’s what happened with this section, isn’t it?

How I used story elements to hit the front page of Digg (and how you can too)

When I first started learning about copywriting, I found the most popular headlines from places like Digg and Copyblogger and physically wrote them out by hand so I could get a true “feel” for what went into making a compelling opening for my blog posts.

The act of writing with pen and paper made the copywriting lessons stick in a powerful way, enabling me to hit the front page of Digg six times. And as I talked to others who used this same technique I realized that it wasn’t a fluke — it’s an important part of learning by doing.

That’s my story — which, interestingly enough, you’ve just read to the end.

Keep in mind the story doesn’t have to be about you — it can be the reader’s story (for example, “How you’ll get twice as many people to read to the end of your copy”). In some cases this can be even more compelling than a story elements that refer to you or your customers.

Look at the subheader above and see how I’ve included the idea of story, a promise, and a specific benefit to keep you from clicking away. When you do the same, you readers will appreciate it.

Why solid subheadings stop scanners in their tracks

Now, all that we’ve talked about so far explains how to keep interested readers moving from section to section of your sales page — but what about the “scanners” who quickly scroll their way down to the price? How do you get them to stop and read what you’ve written?

Well, as I said at the beginning, the techniques that keep those interested readers reading can also make scanners feel like they’re missing out on something — a key motivator for taking their finger off of the scroll wheel. If your subheaders are heavy on promises and benefits, and have an element of story to them, scanners will notice them as they move down the page.

As the subheaders “stack” on each other, with promise after promise, benefit upon benefit, and a story that just won’t quit — just as I’ve shown you how to do above — scanners will decide that they’ve just got to slow down and really listen to what you’re offering them, because they’ll be convinced the rewards are just too good to miss.

(And just in case you scanned your way down here, that last sentence was for you.)

Comments

I’ve been using the subheadings for a long time (one of the first things I learned about writing for marketing). Once I heard it, I knew I was a scanner and I usually read things backwards subheading by subheading too.

YES – scannable — short (!) and (depending on your demographic) printable (add that sexybook for printing). Remember to add an image or graphic, too. *Bolded* text is a must. Nice article -at least I think it is – as I just scanned it

So true Dave, the subheadings should be able to tell the quick story of the page to the person who is standing 5 feet away from the computer monitor.

People buying something from a sales page the first time they see it is a myth. Even if a person doesn’t necessarily have the time to read the page right then and there, the basic idea and benefit will stick out in their mind and the page will be mentally “bookmarked” for later.

I did this with the “how to launch” e-book. I scanned that page I can’t tell you how many times, and now that it’s come time to write said e-book, I wanted to make sure I had all of my bases covered and the “how to launch” book was at the top of my mind.

Not because of a referral, not because somebody told me to buy it, but because the subheads on the page itself gave me the mental signal of “you’re going to need the rest of the information here sometime”

In general though, I think once people get over the idea that the first time someone reads their page is the only time they’re ever going to have to make a sale, it will help them write better subheads to get them to “bookmark” the post for a time they’ll actually need the product.

I learned this as the “dual readership path” — the page reads one way for the read-every-word people, and for scanners, there are enough highlighted elements (subheads, boldface, alert boxes, etc.) to give them the flavor of the story and entice them to slow down.

I really like the way you broke this down into specifics, very cool. Thanks as always, Dave.

Hi, great article and always nice to have a mini-refresher course. This advice was one of the first my boss gave me when I first started writing copy. She said, in a nutshell, All your headlines and sub-heads need to be benefits-driven, so make ‘em only as long as they need to be. Very few people are going to read the actual content.

This was a new concept for me, b/c I’m one who likes to read everything. Doesn’t everyone, I thought? No!

Excellent article! I’ve used subheads ever since I began copywriting, and they are always successful in attracting readers. And, using that tried and true trick of good copywriting, putting a benefit into your headline, is equally effective in subheads as well.

This is so true. I’ve been studying it more lately, and I love the tips you’ve included.

I will be the first to admit, there are sales letters, blog posts and articles that I start off scanning, but the subheads are so compelling, I find myself scrolling back up and taking the time to really read it.

Agreed. Dave’s doing a series for us specifically on sales letters, and it’s especially important to make them scannable because they’re a piece of writing that so many people skim, but all content works best when it’s scannable.

Really they should do both. Really the ultimate goal with any copywriting is to get people to hang on to your every word.

If a person is already reading every word, then the subhead would give them a little extra push to keep going and keep hanging on through the next section.

But if a person is scanning, the subheader should encourage them to go back and read every word, because they may have missed an important point. In the case of sales pages, this is critical, because sometimes it’s the details that aren’t in big bold print that can make the difference between someone being “on the fence” or “buyer”

I’ll admit, I am often a scanner when reading other’s blog posts. I even scanned this one – but your sub-headings slowed me down, and they allowed me to absorb the overall message of the post (clearly).

Love coming here, and always will! Having said that, here’s another way to look at subheads…

If you’re wondering whether your subheads are any good or not, simply COPY and PASTE all of the subheads into Word. One by one. When you’re done, scroll up and read all your subheads from start-to-finish.

Then ask yourself: does what I’m reading make any sense? Are my subheads a mini-version of my sales page?

If you’re answer is YES, then scanners will be sucked into your copy. Each subhead sucks them into the rest of the story, but is a story all by itself…

If you’re answer is NO, then re-write your subheads, silly!

Ideally, your subheads don’t deliver a promise… they connect promise after promise… after promise. The more you connect your subheads from a perspective of promise + proof (authority, testmonials, use of words, etc. falls under proof), the more easily you’ll write sales pages.

Great to have the scannable copy concept mixed with the writing copy that sells here. It makes for powerful online writing.

Just as many people will have to read a sales letter several times before taking the plunge, others need to repeatedly hear about the power of benefit-bsased sales copy. Thank you! I’m writing a landing page right now and this will keep me focused.

Copyblogger is the best resource for writing sales copy ever. I hope you meet Dave, Sonia and the inspirational Copyblogger team at BlogWorld. It’ll blow my mind…. hopefully in a good way:)

Great tips, Dave. I need to work on my headings and subheadings before starting the sales page for my first eBook. I’ll try browsing Reddit, Digg, Twitter and this blog for headings, then writing them out myself to get a feel for them. That’s actually a terrific idea.

As for scanners, I must confess – I’m often guilty of scanning through sales pages of eBooks or online courses until I hit the price, mainly to determine if the product is within my budget. There have been one or two sales pages I came across in the past that had subheaders so good that I had to stop and read the contents before scanning any further. That just goes to show that headings really do work in capturing a scanner’s attention.

I feel a great way to emphasize the benefits is to list them all in bullet point form. This is convenient for the reader and it is reader friendly, as it gives the impression that they are reading less, and they can clearly see what information is of most importance.

Something has peaked my interest when I come to the page. I’ll look at a headline and then head to the bottom, ignoring everything in between. I usually ask myself, “why bother to put something like this up?” I hit the buy button and if I don’t know already check if the price is Ok.

Sorry I ignore almost all of the page. Good thing others are not like me.

Wow. Tons of great ideas, thanks so much for making this available for us! I tend to be rather… verbose, so this really helps.

Subheadings do help, I’ve used them for a while now and received more feedback on those posts. I try the methods I catch myself reacting to while surfing as a natural process… a lot of them are mentioned here.

I like the “sexybookmark print button” idea, need to go add that right now!

Great post. One of the big take-aways from this, for me, was treating your subheadings as actually headlines. I often spend a good length of time coming up with my main post title but then don’t put the same thought into my subheadings.

You know, I think this is something that is OFTEN overlooked when someone is setting up their sales pages. I honestly can’t stand most of them… but then again, I AM a scanner and many of them just never catch my attention when I do scan them. Other times… there’s just TOO much content! So… I better recognize that and take some advice when I try it myself… right?

Great advice on some specifics to help capture both audiences’ attention!